California father, two children missing after camping trip

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Rescuers were searching on Thursday for a Northern California man and his two young children after they failed to return home from a family camping trip in the rugged Sierra Nevada mountains, authorities said. Authorities were notified on Tuesday that Nicholas Vlahos was overdue following the camping trip, the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Vlahos, 41, had been traveling with his 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter. Vlahos was last seen in a four-wheel-drive pickup in western Sierra County and had intended to return home through what authorities called a “remote and rugged” portion of Sierra and Plumas Counties. The family was said to be in good health and carrying ample food and water supplies. “Upon receiving the report, members of the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office performed an immediate hasty search of the reported route and were unable to locate the overdue parties or their vehicle,” the statement said. A Sierra County officer said the search would continue “as long as it takes.” An Instagram account registered to a Nick Vlahos had as its most recent images photographs of children next to a river and a black Toyota pickup from a post stamped Friday, May 3. (Reporting By Emmett Berg; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Mohammad Zargham)